Kaibo at Cayman Kai - A True Tranquil Retreat and More | Reviews | PHOTOS | DISCOUNTS

After reading the many complaints posted during the past year about massive congestion, exorbitant prices and general over commercialization at Rum Point, Activity Guide is now exclusively recommending Kaibo at Cayman Kai as our choice for a truly rewarding and tranquil retreat, free of crowds; no busing in of cruise passengers and a broader selection of lower priced drinks, snacks and upscale food at their upstairs restaurant.

Kaibo is open to the public daily, free of charge.

After a thorough comparison made between the two locations on two separate occasions about a week ago, I have found that Kaibo offers generally lower prices and higher value for food and drink—both at their casual snack/drink bar and their upstairs upscale restaurant. While I fond the food quality comparable with slightly lower prices at Kaibo's upscale restaurant, Kaibo offers a far more elegant setting and greater ambiance, with more comfortable seating and far greater distances between tables, as well as private booths and a panoramic ocean view from every table.

The snorkeling at Kaibo is far more diverse, with starfish and other interesting creatures at the shallow 1-3 foot depths. There is far less boat traffic at Kaibo—particularly on the weekends, making it a safer destination for snorkeling and swimming in depths easily accessible beyond the average 2 ft. depth at Rum Point. While it is possible to reach deeper waters at Rum Point, the swimming distance is close to 100 yards, while Kaibo slopes gradually, immediately from the shoreline to depths of 10-30 feet, where a variety of interesting sea life can be explored.

I will post the actual price comparisons as well as many Kaibo photos and all the special events they offer during the coming weeks. For now, I am submitting the details of their "We Love Sundays" event, which they offer every Sunday.

We Love Sundays!

Cayman’s traditional weekend destination has always been Northside,
now Kaibo offers the most relaxed Sunday on the island.

• reserve your tented double lounger

• order up your ice bucket and Sunday bottle specials

• treat yourself to a professional massage in the curtained cabana

• ease into the day with a yoga class at 11am

• enjoy the Sunday food specials

• sleep the day away

It’s now even easier to chill out at Northside’s favorite Sunday spot.

Kaibo restaurant • beach bar • marina
Open 7 days a week.
Phone: 345-947-9975

Be sure to bring the coupon for a free drink with any meal, starting in our February issue. For now, you can just mention the free Activity Guide drink when making your reservations.

Every Tuesday
Kaibo hosts a spectacular barbecue with lots of drink specials and a fantastic assortment of local food. All for only $20! Anyone new to Cayman, that is an incredible price for all that it includes.

Now if we can only get them to switch from a cheap watered down Jamaican beer to Cayman's locally brewed Caybrew. Embarassed

Kaibo's Fine Dining Restaurant is called appropriately: "Upstairs Fine Dining Restaurant"

While the name is simple, the food is anything but. Offering the most sensational Caribbean fusion cuisine in a spacious, elegant, ocean front setting, Kaibo's Upstairs restaurant easily ranks among the very best five star restaurants in Cayman.

We will have their complete menu with prices in our menu searchin about a week and you will be surprised at how affordable such spectacular award winning fine dining can be.

Here are just a very few sample items I'll post until we have them included in our menu search:

Appetizers

Lobster Bisque
Caribbean lobster, roasted tomato crème soup, roasted garlic crouton,
crème fraiche swirl.
$8

Tempura Blue Crab Cakes
Tender Blue crab cakes tempura style, citrus aioli, ponzu sauce.
$12

Entrée

Duck Confit L’Orange
Tender duck breast cooked among its own juices, orange citrus glaze, roasted almonds, market vegetables, yellow jasmine rice.
$24

[An outstanding price from one of only three restaurants in the Cayman Islands I am aware of that serve Duck L'Orange; and this is not your ordinary Duck L'Orange!]

Pasta Primavera
Tri-color rotini noodle, aromatic vegetables, light olive oil, Parmesan Regianno with your choice of grilled gulf shrimp or blackened chicken breast or fresh P.E.I. mussels.
$24

[Trust me: Enjoy this dish with the P.E.I. mussels. I've had mussels in P.E.I. that didn't even compare with the way they prepare this!]

This is one of those exciting kind of restaurants with so many rare and exotic appetizers that when Peggy and I go, we usually order 3-4 appetizers and share them; or 1 entree and 2-3 appetizers, providing a much more diverse and even more cost effective meal.

Cayman Newbie Note: A $40 - $60 tab for 2 people in a 5 star Cayman restaurant is an absolutely incredible deal. Then order an entree and throw in a free rum punche for mentioning Activity Guide and you may just have one of the most highly valued meals on the island!

They also feature an extremely rare Rum Bar, offering what I believe may be the largest selection of rare and exotic rums in the entire Caribbean.

And the exclusive perk for making your reservation through our website or mentioning Activity Guide at the time of reservation?

You guessed it—A FREE Rum Punch! Very Happy

To be continued soon...

Temporary Resident Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 199

Excellent Joe! clapping

I can't wait to see the price comparisons and everything else. I doubt there is ANY beach shack selling soddy burgers for $15 besides Rum Point. Well, maybe one of the other cruise ship dumps, but not any of the places you recommend.

You might just want to check with Kaibo about their tented double loungers, I don't think they are free. But they do have plenty of tables to eat in the shade that are all free, Kaibo spills right over to that public park or whatever it's called, so it's basically on massive beach with tons of tables, shade and everything just like you said, except for the ridiculous prices, crowds and noise. Just not sure about the fancy loungers. They sure look cool though, and so do a couple other things in that picture. Laughing

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:53 pm Post subject:

JKman - I am sure there is some charge to reserve their tented loungers, just like anywhere else in the world. I will call them after the holiday madness and post the amount.

The main point, which I appreciate you pointing out is that admission is free and there are ample crowd free places to eat. In fact, you can walk less than 30 yards and have an entire cove of beautiful beach all to yourself!

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 3:22 pm Post subject:

Here's just one example while we are on the topic of the many, many, many secluded little coves there are within a matter of yards from the bar and grill. There are also lots of covered tables, shaded alcoves and other facilities, all just a stone's throw away from the main Kaibo area.

In other words, intimate privacy in one of the most pristine areas of Grand Cayman, all within a few yards of excellent and affordable food and drink. I honestly don't know what more anyone could possibly ever want. Kaibo is a pure unadulterated paradise within a paradise and in many ways, even comparable to visiting a sister island, minus all the costs.

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 6:19 pm Post subject:

Joe,

Thanks for adding Kaibo to your list of recommended establishments. We always go there and have never had a bad meal or experience. Daniel does a wonderful job with the "UPSTAIRS". The setting, food, mood and staff are all excellent.

We already made our reservation for Friday and can't wait.

Merry Christmas palm

Heidi

Native Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 2035 Location: Illinois

We're going to try the BBQ next week. Checked out the food and it looks good and actually pretty reasonable.

Shelly :-)

Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 8:42 am Post subject:

middletb - Be sure to ask Daniel for the special Activity Guide free Rum Punch with your entree. Wink

Native Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 2035 Location: Illinois

We're going upstairs tonight--Maybe we'll still get a rum punch even though we didn't mention it when we walked over to make our reservations--looking forward to it--

Shelly :-)

Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:16 pm Post subject:

Shelly - Call and ask for Claire or Daniel and tell them I have not had time to set up their restaurant in our Menu Search or you would have made your reservation online and received a free rum punch with each entree. I'm pretty sure they will be happy to accommodate you. It wouldn't hurt to also mention that you will be writing a review about them to post at our forums. Wink

If you like, I can call them for you; just PM me your reservation name and time.

I too am very anxious to read your review, especially because you recently dined at RP so it will be interesting to compare notes. Very Happy

Have a great time.

Native Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 2035 Location: Illinois

Joe

I'll post the review later--we really enjoyed it---the drinks only are for the downstairs restaurant--not Upstairs--I talked to Daniel and told him I was a frequent poster---Also, Upstairs the tip was included. I noticed that downstairs on the lunch menu it said that tip was not included for less than 5 people

Shelly :-)

Newbie Joined: 27 Dec 2005 Posts: 19

Wow this place looks incredible, I will be arriving on Jan 24th and staying at the Grand Caymanian Resort. I will need directions to this beach area, and do I need reservations for the BBQ? thanks for your replies

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject:

shelly - Kaibo does offer a free Rum Punch with each dinner entree but it has to be booked through our website, which is not even set up yet. I apologize for putting the cart before the horse but I am happy that you enjoyed your dining experience.

ISLABONITA - Welcome. You will find Kaibo easily located in Cayman Kai on our Map 1 of Grand Cayman. There are also many signs in the area and if you find yourself at Rum Point, you went a few dozen yards too far; just turn around and take the next right and you will easily see the signs for Kaibo on the right.

The free Rum Punch coupons will not be in our January issue but you can still redeem them at both Kaibo restaurants:

1. Download and print the free rum punch coupon from our magazine online and present it at their downstairs bar and grill just the same as if it were taken from the magazine.

2. For evening dining at Upstairs: Give me about a week to get Kaibo set up as an Activity Guide recommended restaurant and make your reservation through our website and you will receive a free rum punch with each entree.

Note that Upstairs, their elegant gourmet restaurant offers dining upstairs in air conditioned comfort or directly on the sand on the weekends. During the winter months the direct sand seating is spectacular and most other restaurants charge additional for direct sand seating while Kaibo sets everything up beforehand and offers a choice with no additional charge for their direct sand seating directly alongside the ocean.

Have a wonderful vacation!

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:48 pm Post subject:

ISLABONITA - Please disregard the second part of my last post about the free rum punch at Upstairs at Kaibo. I just called Daniel and they are going to be offering something even better. I apologize that I am not able to disclose the details at this point but I am so close to deadline and Kaibo has so many specials that I do not want to do them a disservice by trying to abbreviate everything to a single post.

And remember, Kaibo also offers a water taxi transportation from many areas of Seven Mile Beach, including the Hyatt dock, which is tantamount to the resurrection of the long lost ferry. Wink

More on that and everything else as soon as possible.

Have a wonderful vacation!

Newbie Joined: 27 Dec 2005 Posts: 19

Just looked through the entire coupon section and didn't see the coupon.

What page is it on?

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject:

Had dinner at "UPSTAIRS" on Friday and as usual Daniel did not let us down. We always make it a point to go to Kaibo at each visit.

We also ate downstairs on Monday and if the Upstairs is open, then downstairs has their bar menu available otherwise its a smaller version of the Upstairs menu which was the case for us on Monday.

At the Upstairs between us we had the lobster, snapper, scallops and the pasta. The wine selection is very good and not excessively priced. There is always a wonderful breeze upstairs and the decor always makes me feel as if I am eating at some colonial establishment.

Hopefully you will all enjoy the place as much as we do.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all.

Heidi martini

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